odern art history originated with humanist writers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. There was not then, and would not be for another two centuries, any word like "art" to cover all such activities as painting, sculpture, architecture, metalwork, etc. Consequently, there was no wrestling with the problem "what is art?" They described how painting, or sculpture, or architecture rationalized sight, ordered experience, and so deserved to be called humane and noble activities rather than mere crafts. Incidentally and implicitly, however, they did define art-not in terms of what it was, but in terms of what it did. They talked about effectively naturalistic representation; about story-telling; about pleasing spectators and communicating with them.
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